Voting is officially under way in the 2024 South African national elections.
As confirmed by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), voting outside of South Africa will take place at 111 foreign missions.
Voting at these missions will take place well ahead of voting day in South Africa, which is Wednesday, 29 May.
Voting process started on Friday
South African citizens registered to vote in Algiers, Amman, Cairo, Damascus, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Ramallah, Riyadh and Tehran will do so on Friday, 17 May.
That’s TODAY.
Voting hours are 07:00 to 19:00 (local time).
The total number of citizens registered to vote at these missions is 1 476.
It may seem like a small number, but every vote counts!
The rest of the 102 missions will make their mark on Saturday, 18 May.
Click HERE for the complete list of voting stations abroad.
Overall, the IEC confirmed that 78 092 South African citizens applied to cast their special vote abroad.
Meanwhile, the IEC has confirmed that voting in the United Kingdom – for those who’ve applied to cast their special vote – will take place over two days.
The IEC also announced extended voting hours for voting in London which will take place at the following address:
South Africa House
Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DP
United Kingdom
Voting will take place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, 18 and 19 May from 07:00 to 21:00.
The IEC confirmed that 24 535 voters registered to cast their vote at the High Commission.
Extended voting hours have also been prescribed for the mission in Washington DC and New York. The voting hours are 07:00 to 21:00.
As per IEC, the largest international voting stations by population are:
| Rank | City | Voters |
| 1 | London | 24 535 |
| 2 | The Hague | 6 659 |
| 3 | Canberra | 3 674 |
| 4 | Dubai | 3 266 |
| 5 | Dublin | 3 040 |
| 6 | Wellington | 2 292 |
| 7 | Abu Dhabi | 1 825 |
| 8 | New York | 1 799 |
| 9 | Washington DC | 1 799 |
| 10 | Berlin | 1 476 |
The IEC reminded voters that they will need to be present in person at the mission where they are registered or where they successfully applied for by VEC 10 notice, and will vote as follows:
- Present their identity document (ID) book or smartcard or temporary identity certificate to the election official.
- The left thumbnail of the voter is marked with indelible ink to indicate that they have voted.
- The name of the voter is marked off the list of voters approved to vote at that mission to indicate that the voter has participated in the election.
- The voter is issued with the national compensatory ballot paper.
- The voter will mark the ballot in secret, and place and seal the ballot in an unmarked envelope
- The unmarked envelope is placed in another envelope that is marked with the name, ID number, and the name of the mission where the vote was cast. The use of two envelopes is to ensure the secrecy of the ballot by delinking the voter and the ballot cast
- Election officials take the envelope and place it in a secure ballot box for special votes.
IEC issued thanks
After the voting process, cast national compensatory ballots will be transported through a source channel back to the national office of the Electoral Commission for counting. The votes will be counted in the presence of agents presenting contestants.
The IEC thanked its stakeholders, staff and employees from Dirco for tirelessly working to ensure that registered voters make their mark in the upcoming elections.
The commission is aware that voting is not possible in some countries for security reasons. Dirco has confirmed that the missions in Sudan, Tel Aviv and Kyiv remain closed. Unavoidably and regrettably, voters registered at these missions will not be able to vote in the forthcoming elections if they were not able to make arrangements by the 22 April deadline to vote at another mission.
